OverviewIn the early 1940's, Wolfgang Langewiesche wrote a series of
articles in Air Facts analyzing the various aspects of piloting
techniques. Based on these articles, Langewiesche's classic work on the
art of flying was published in 1944. This book explains precisely what
pilots do when they fly, just how they do it, and why. These basics are
largely unchanging. The book applies to large airplanes and small, old
airplanes and new, and is of interest not only to the learner but also
to the accomplished pilot and instructor. Today, several excellent
manuals offer the pilot accurate and valuable technical information. But
Stick and Rudder remains the leading think-book on the art of flying.

About the Author (from inside back cover)Wolfgang Langewiesche first soloed in 1934 in Chicago. Early in his
flying he was struck by a strange discrepancy: in piloting, the words
and the realities did not agree. What pilots claimed to be doing, in
flying an airplane, was not what they were in fact doing. What the pilot
really did was poorly described in print and in airport talk.

Langewiesche set himself the task of describing more accurately and
realistically what the pilot really does when he flies. The first
result, from 1940 on, was a series of articles in AIR FACTS, analyzing
various points of piloting technique. In 1944 STICK AND RUDDER was
published.

Langewiesche has been a test pilot for Cessna, Change Vought, and
Kollsman and has also done free-lance testing. He was written on flying,
and other matters, in HARPER'S, the SATURDAY EVENING POST, and READER'S
DIGEST. He has made long trips over large parts of the world in
airplanes of his own.

Back Cover Text

What's in Stick and
Rudder:

The
invisible secret of all heavier-than-air
flight--the Angle of Attack. What it is, and
why it can't be seen. How lift is made, and
what the pilot has to do with it.

Why
airplanes stall

How do you
know you're about to stall?

The landing
approach. How the pilot's eye functions in
judging the approach. The visual clues by
which an experienced pilot unconsciously
judges: how you can quickly learn to use
them.

"The Spot
that does not move." This is the first
statement of this phenomenon. A foolproof
method of making a landing approach across
pole lines and trees.

The elevator
and the throttle. One controls the speed,
the other controls climb and descent. Which
is which?

The paradox
of the glide. By pointing the nose down less
steeply, you descend more steeply. By
pointing the nose down more steeply, you can
glide further.

What's the
rudder for? The rudder does NOT turn the
airplane the way a boat's rudder turns the
boat. Then what does it do?

How a turn
is flown. The role of ailerons, rudder, and
elevator in making a turn.

The
landing--how it's made. The visual clues
that tell you where the ground is.

The
"tail-dragger" landing gear and what's
tricky about it. This is probably the only
analysis of tail-draggers now available to
those who want to fly one.

The tricycle
landing gear and what's so good about it. A
strong advocacy of the tricycle gear written
at a time when almost all civil airplanes
were taildraggers.

Why the
airplane doesn't feel the wind. Why the
airplane usually flies a little sidewise.

Plus: a
chapter on Air Accidents by Leighton
Collins, founder and editor of AIR FACTS.
His analyses of aviation's safety problems
have deeply influenced pilots and
aeronautical engineers and have contributed
to the benign characteristics of today's
airplane.

Inside Front
Cover Text
STICK AND RUDDER is the first exact analysis of
the art of flying ever attempted. It has been
continuously in print for thirty-three years,
and has enjoyed steadily increasing sales.
Flight instructors have found that the book does
indeed explain important phases of the art of
flying, in a way the learner can use. It shows
precisely what the pilot does when he flies,
just how he does it, and why. These basics
are largely unchanging. The book therefore is
applicable to large airplanes and small, old
airplanes and new, and is of interest not only
to the learner but also to the accomplished
pilot and to the instructor himself. When
STICK AND RUDDER first came out, some of its
contents were considered highly controversial.
In recent years its formulations have become
widely accepted. Pilots and flight instructors
have found that the book works.Today several
excellent manuals offer the pilot accurate and
valuable technical information. But STICK AND
RUDDER remains the leading think-book on the art
of flying.One thorough reading of it should be
the equivalent of many hours of practice.